Grain car door structure



Feb. 20, 1962 M. J. FORD GRAIN CAR DOOR STRUCTURE Filed March 16, 1959 Ea 5:1 x filmy 3 v R g? ,m 47A ATTORNEYS.

3,021,897 GRAIN (IAR DOOR STRUCTURE Michael J. Ford, Hartsdale, N.Y.,assignor, by mesne assignments, of one-half to International PaperCompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York, and one-half to TheStanley Works, New Britain, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut FiledMar. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 799,683 Claims. (Cl. 150-414 This inventionrelates to a grain door and support method. The invention is useful inconnection with closures for door openings, oppositely-disposed dooropenings in boxcars, and for various other openings for which a seal isneeded. The invention will be described herein in connection with arailway boxcar.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved grain doorstructure which is highly effective in containing granular materialwhile at the same time providing a structure that can be readily foldedfor shipment and readily installed within the car. A further object isto provide a structure in which the heavy pressures encountered in thehauling of grain and other heavy material are effectively resisted andthe pressure directed to areas where it is utilized in holding the grainclosure in position. A still further object is to provide a grain doorstructure of unique form and of great strength providing greaterflexibility and ease of installation. A still further object is toprovide a combination of doors with interconnecting means having theadvantages which will be hereinafter described in detail. Other specificobjects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative embodiment, by theaccompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a broken perspective view ofa railway car equipped with openings closed by doors and support meansembodying my invention; FIG. 2, a broken top plan view; KG. 3, a detailsectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 33 of FIG.1; FIG. 4, a broken perspective view of the door in folded relation; andFlG. 5, an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the door bodyshowing the laminated structure employed.

In the illustration given, A designates a railway car provided withopposite door openings enclosed by frames A.

Secured to each frame A is a door body having the side edges thereoffolded upon itself at 11 and secured to the door frame by nailsextending through the batten 12. It will be understood that any suitablemeans for securing the edges of the door body 10 may be employed.

Each door 10 is provided at its center with a U-shaped portion 13enclosing a metal bar 14 and secured thereto by strong adhesive 15. Thedoor body 10 is preferably provided with a fold line 16 at the outer endof each bar so that the side panels 10a may be turned outwardly at aninclination toward the frame members A and secured thereto. The bar 14is provided with an opening 17 therethrough adapted to receive thetension wires 18, and the door portion 13 is provided also with anopening 19 therethrough aligned with the bar opening 17.

I prefer to equip the panels 10a each with a floor flap 2% so as toprovide a seal along the bottom of each door panel. As shown moreclearly in FIG. 2, the inclined side panels ltla form a V-shaped recesson the outer side of the panels, and similarly the floor flaps 20provide between them a V-shaped opening. A cover flaps 21 is provided tocover the area between the floor flaps 20 so that there is a continuousflap seal around the door body 10 and on which the grain rests as ameans for further holding the door compactly against the floor.

The tension wires 18 are drawn inwardly to hold the bars 14 inwardly ofthe door frame A so that the side panels 10a of each door slopeoutwardly toward the door frame A. With this arrangement, it is foundthat the grain pressure at the center of the car is reduced and thepressure increased adjacent the frame portions A so as to aid in furtheranchoring the door sides against the frame. The arrangement furtherprotects the storm doors of the railway car so that they cannot contactat any time the door body 10' and rub against it during transit andduring the starting and stopping of the car. The structure furtherenables a pry-board to be placed on the outside of the door 10 andagainst the door frame, it this is desired. Yet another advantage isthat the central bar 14 provides a vertical support enabling the workmanto leave the car after the installation is completed.

I have found that a highly etfective door body 16 can be provided byemploying laminated liner paper such as kraft paper, with the paperplies bonded together with adhesive, the plies being illustrated in FIG.5. The number of plies may be varied widely depending upon the type ofpaper employed and the loads that will be supported by the door. Plasticadhesives may be employed for securing the paper plies together and tofurther strengthen the paper. In the illustration given in FIG. 5, thereare three sheets 22 which are bonded together, but, as stated, thenumber of plies may be varied.

As illustrated best in FIG. 4, the door can be conveniently folded uponitself into a compact shipping package and the folded structure furtherassists the operator in the actual installation, since the V-shapedposition of the panels 10a supports the structure in upright positionwhile the operator is nailing the sides to the door frame A.

The cover flap 21, which bridges the space between the floor flaps 20,may be a separate piece, or it may be secured to one of the flaps 20with a fold line which permits it to be turned upon itself.

While I have described the structure 10- as being formed of laminatedliner or paper sheets bonded together to provide the desired strengthand flexibility, it will be understood that other material may beemployed, including paper provided with reinforcing fibers running inopposite or angularly-related directions, or the structure may includelaminations of plastic sheets with paper sheets or other fiber sheets toprovide the desired strength. Corrugated paper may also be employed.Further, the door body 10 may be employed alone or in combination withsteel straps or other supporting straps, as illustrated in US. PatentsNo. 2,734,567 and 2,797,749. If steel reinforcing is employed, the steelstraps may be extended through a projected portion of the metal bar 14.(Joe advantage, however, of the structure herein described is that thereinforcements can be to a substantial degree omitted because of theangular arrangement of the door and the supporting means therefor.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have shown a specific structurein considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment ofthe invention, it will be understood that such details may be variedwidely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a freight vehicle having opposite door openingsenclosed by frames, a door across each opening having a central bar anddoor portions inclined outwardly therefrom, means for anchoring thesides of said portions to said frames, each of said doors being equippedwith a central pocket enclosing its associated bar, an opening in eachbar and a pair of openings in the associated central pocket aligned withsaid bar openings, and tension means extending through the openings ofsaid doors to draw said doors inwardly, whereby said door panels form aV recess with the panels inclined from the center of the door outwardlyto said door frames.

2. In combination with a freight vehicle having opposite door openingsenclosed by frames, at door closure across each opening having acentral, vertically-extending, elongated bar and door portions inclinedoutwardly therefrom, said bar having a generaly rectangular transversesection, means for anchoring the sides of said door portions to saidframes, each closure being equipped with a central, vertically-elongatedpocket portion about its associated bar, a plurality of openingsextending through said bars generally parallel with said doorway, a pairof openings in said pocket portion for each bar opening and alignedtherewith, and tension means extending between the opposite enclosureopenings maintaining each closure in a V configuration.

3. In combination with a freight vehicle having opposite door openingsenclosed by frames, a vertically-extending, generally rectangular doorclosure across each opening, means for anchoring the vertical sides ofsaid closures to said frames, said closure comprising a panel folded onitself centrally along a plurality of spacedapart, parallel fold linesto develop an integral U-shaped part extending inwardly of said vehicle,means uniting the panel portions between fold lines in immobilizedrelation relative to each other to maintain said part in a U shape,

said U-shaped part being equipped with reinforcing "means, alignedtie-wire-receiving openings in said parts and reinforcing means, andtie-wire means interconnecting the U-shaped parts of theoppositely-disposed closures.

4. in a method of closing grain car doors, the steps of folding agenerally rectangular, planar paperboard panel along a plurality ofcentrally-disposed, spaced-apart, parallel fold lines to develop acentrally disposed, U-shaped portion outstandable from the remainder ofsaid panel when said panel is disposed in generally planar condition,uniting panel portions between said fold lines in immobilized relationrelative to each other to maintain said portion in U shape, folding saidpanel on itself to form a generally V configuration, with said U-shapedportion at the apex of said V configuration to provide a reduced sizedpanel for shipment, subsequently unfolding said V configuration, andsecuring opposite sides of said panel to the door posts of a grain carwith said U-shaped portion facing the interior of the car.

5. In combination with a freight vehicle having a door opening definedby vertical framing members and a floor, a temporary door extendingacross said opening and comprising a planar panel of generallyrectangular configuration and having two pairs of opposite side edges,said panel being centrally folded on itself along a plurality ofspaced-apart, parallel fold lines to provide an integral U-shaped partoutstanding from the remainder of said panel and said member, when saidpanel is disposed in generally planar condition and secured across saidopening, means uniting the panel portions between fold lines inimmobilized relation to each other to maintain said part in U shape,said U -shaped part being equipped with reinforcing means, a portion ofsaid panel adjacent only one side edge of one pair of side edges beingequipped with a fold line outstanding and being positioned against saidfloor to provide a seal against the escape of lading in said vehicle,and means securing the other pair of side edges to said members, saidpanel being adapted to be folded on itself to form a generally planarreduced size shipment package with said U-shaped part at the apex ofsaid fold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,569,381 Lewis Ian. 12, 1926 1,697,634 Copeland Ian. 1, 1929 1,707,326Smiley Apr. 2, 1929 1,816,175 Buchan July 28, 1931 2,226,976 LearningDec. 31, 1940 2,329,007 Simon et al. Sept. 7, 1943 2,362,118 Dawson Nov.7, 1944 2,581,991 Weiss Jan. 8, 1952 2,738,006 Suess Mar. 13, 19562,803,299 Gerrard et a1. Aug. 20, 1957 2,855,992 Ford et al Oct. 14,1958

